Final Finesse starts on an icy December morning in Washington, DC. Samantha Reid, Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, braves the weather and goes into work. There has been a gas line explosion in Oklahoma, and Samantha has to keep her boss up to date on it. She suspects that this is more than an equipment malfunction. Unfortunately, her boss doesn’t believe her. That same day, Samantha schedules a meeting with GeoGlobal Oil and Gas Vice President Tripp Adams. Samantha remembers Tripp from her freshman year at Princeton. There is an obvious attraction between them. They agree to work together to find the cause of the explosion. As the story unfolds, more explosions occur, and Samantha and Tripp grow closer. Then Tripp goes to Venezuela to negotiate with the government. When he disappears, Samantha begins to suspect that his abduction may be linked to the series of explosions. The government doesn’t handle the situation quickly enough for Samantha, so she takes a vacation and forms her own rescue team. Along the way, she also discovers the truth about the explosions.
The pacing of Final Finesse is great. The action never lags, but it never has the frantic pace of some thrillers. Bodman carefully pieces together all the details in an elegant way. This book is a hard one to put down. If I didn’t have to go to work the next morning, I would have definitely stayed up all night to finish it. Here’s my advice: read this on a weekend so you don’t have to put it down.
I was impressed by how Bodman manages to keep this novel fun despite its heavy subject matter. Exploding pipelines don’t seem like a fun topic for novel, but Bodman handles her plot so skillfully that it really is a fun read. There is also an intriguing subplot involving Samantha’s boss. This subplot leads to an interesting twist at the end. There are a lot of dark elements in the novel, but none of them weigh down the plot. Everything continues moving at an enjoyable pace throughout the novel.
The characters are a key element of Final Finesse. Bodman does a great job of creating complex characters. She focuses much of her efforts on Samantha. The result is an intriguing, complex character with an interesting past. Even the minor characters are well-crafted. Bodman doesn’t waste any of her characters. She has even included background information on the villains. This makes for a more complete novel than I expected.
Karna Small
Bodman’s Final Finesse is a
surprisingly light, enjoyable novel. The
subject matter is heavy, but Bodman keeps things entertaining with
great
characters and smooth pacing. She even
avoids political commentary. Less
skilled novelists may have drifted into commentary on energy and the
volatile relationship
between the U.S. and Venezuela. Bodman
manages to maintain her focus throughout the novel.
Fans of thrillers will not want to skip Final
Finesse.